Page 142 of Wicked Highland Heroes

She couldn’t be serious. “You said you were coming to England with me,” he said.

“Yes, but I spoke in haste. It is only a matter of time before…”

“You are allowing what Lydia said to sway you,” he insisted.

She gave a deprecating snort. “Only two hours ago you were returning to London and leaving me here. How can you say that your sister’s words are the thing that swayed me?”

Guilt stabbed soul deep and fear pumped through him. “Eve,” he began lamely, “I-you were making plans to stay and I...”

It was a ridiculous response. He hadn’t planned on leaving Scotland for a week, maybe two. In fact, he could have stayed a month before returning to Norfolk to begin work with the thresher. But the truth was, he’d been struck with the fear that she would gladly have stayed in Scotland with his family—without him—so he had…he had been an idiot.

Erroll reached for her. Her eyes widened and she retreated a step, but he caught her arm and drew her close. Erroll wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. She stood within his embrace, rigid, arms at her sides.

Erroll closed his eyes. “I made a mess of things, did I not?”

She didn’t reply and he envisioned her on a ship bound for France, then lost in the Parisian city, beyond his reach. His chest tightened. God help him, in a week’s time, he’d fallen hopelessly and completely in love. Erroll tightened his arms around her. If he stayed in Scotland, would she promise not to leave? Could he rest easy with that promise? What would she do when he returned to England for even short periods of time? Would she leave with him? Would she be here when he returned?

He would live each moment they were apart in fear that he would return to find her gone. His heart hammered. He couldn’t seclude himself on Mull forever. He had to return to England, had to face his responsibilities there. But an incident like Laura Greenwood coming to his hotel room could drive a wedge between them that could separate them forever—even if they lived in the same house.

A lump formed in his throat. “Eve,” he rasped.

She shifted and he grasped her chin and tilted her face upward. She stared, and Erroll found himself lost in her dark eyes…found himself lowering his mouth. Their lips touched and she stiffened, then gasped when he brushed her mouth with a feather-light touch. She gave a small cry and threw her arms around his neck.

Blood roared through his ears. He slipped a leg between her legs and the heat from her thighs caused his heart to thunder. He tugged down her bodice, then covered one ripe breast with his hand. Gently, he kneaded the creamy flesh until her nipple pressed hard and insistent into his palm. His cock throbbed with blinding need, and when she thrust her tongue into his mouth, desire swamped his senses.

God, how was he going to show her what was in his heart if he couldn’t think? Erroll sparred with her tongue, thrusting in quick bursts. She drew a stuttered breath and he felt drunk with the knowledge that she wanted him. He rolled the nipple between his fingers. Her hands slid around his back, searing a path downward until they cupped his arse. Erroll undulated his erection against her abdomen. Her fingers tightened into his backside and he feared he would spend himself in his breeches.

She released his buttocks and slipped her hand between their bodies. Erroll realized she was undoing the falls on his breeches and he stilled, heart thudding until his cock sprang free. When she grasped his engorged member, pleasure rammed through him. Erroll thrust into her slim fingers. He was going to spew his seed into her hand and God help him, he wanted that as much as he wanted to be inside her. But not yet. The resolution didn’t stop him from thrusting again. He would have this from her and so much more in the years to come. This moment, however, was for her.

Erroll broke the kiss and, in one quick move, tugged her dress and chemise up, forcing her to release him as he pulled the garments over her head. He stared at her, blood heated at the sight of her vulnerability. In an instant, he kicked off his boots and shucked his clothes. Her gaze dropped to his erection and satisfaction pulsed through him when her eyes widened. This was, he realized, the first time she’d taken in the sight of all of him.

Erroll grasped her hand and backed up, guiding her with him to the bed. His calves bumped into the edge of the mattress and he held her close as they fell backwards onto the mattress. Her body tumbled onto his and he gave her a long, languorous kiss before scooting back on the bed. He pulled her knees up alongside his hips and urged her to straddle him. Eve looked down at him, eyes dazed, hair tumbled across her shoulders.

He swallowed. She’d never looked more beautiful. Eyes locked with hers, he slipped a finger between her wet folds. She jerked, and seized his forearms. He gently massaged her sex and she began to rock against his finger. Her movements quickened and Erroll yanked his finger away and seized her hips, grinding his rod against her.

Eve moaned and continued to rock. Pleasure radiated through him as she crashed onto his rod over and over, but he forced back the urge to climax. When she cried out, Erroll arched as she bore down and her heat flooded his member. He bolted upright into a sitting position and hugged her close. She went limp against his chest.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he whispered.

She pulled back and looked at him, eyes unfocused. Erroll grasped her legs and eased them forward so that she no longer knelt but sat on his lap.

“Now wrap them around me.”

She locked her legs around his waist. Erroll grasped her buttocks, lifted her then drove into her channel. She tossed her head back as he lifted, then brought her down onto him over and over again. Blood roared through his ears, but he forced himself to slow, carefully stroking her inner walls with each rise and fall of her body.

He detected the shift of her hips. She began to pant, and Erroll felt his resolve slip as climax rolled closer and closer to the surface. He couldn’t halt the compulsion and arched as he brought her down onto him, moving faster until she cried out and he exploded with a bone-deep shudder that blocked out all light, all feeling, except for her.

*****

Erroll awoke the following morning alone. He rose and searched the suite but Eve wasn’t there. After dressing, he searched the usual rooms she’d frequented the last few days, and found his mother and Grace.

“Have you seen Eve?” he asked.

“I saw her at breakfast early this morning,” his mother said.

“Not since then?” Erroll asked.

She shook her head. “I assumed she went back to your suite. Is something amiss?”